Flowers
by GwenynGwanunig
Summary: A demoness, beautiful and deadly. She pays the price for her loyalty, but only when she is gone do some realise the void she leaves in her wake. Cullen/OC.
1. Chapter 1

He dreams, tossing ,turning in his bed.

Cullen sees it again and again. His hand and arm brandished protectively in front of a heavily bleeding inquisitor who is head down, a wound bleeding from his head and Dorian holding the young men protectively in his arms, kneeled, the inquisitor's head turned towards his heart.

Corypheus's dragon is dead, but the magister himself is still too powerfull and they fear he might take over the world still.

Cullen dreams at night and relives it again, Corypheus ready to strike, hand outstretched to strike his enemies one last time.

And then the ground opens up and roots with long ugly thorns spread out of it. A large greenish flower grows in place, magic of the fade, it's greenish color spitting out of the ground as the flower - clearly of demon descent-, grows and grows and then creaks as if a tree is about to fall down. And Cullen knows she has come.

The ground still trembles, small rocks and stones shaking and moving with it's impact. And then the flower blooms open revealing it's most innercore and there appears , floating above the flower, hands stretched out, a young humanlike woman, though her features and body define her as a demoness. Flowerpetals bloom from out of her eyes, long white hair now resembling long leaves cascading down, sprouting from her head. Vines tear from the young woman's lips, growing and growing from her mouth and forming around her feet, blood wells up from her legs as she slowly ascends up and then she stops, floating softly above the flower. She turns her hands who were turned upward, slowly forward and then she attacks.

It's as if a river has been released. With a loud "whizz" the roots and vines growing from the ground speed forward, lightning fast, and wrap themselves around the arms of Corypheus.

The magister, still in his euphory, is baffled and drops the orb in his hand. The attack he had planned starts to fade by the flowerwoman's surprise-attack.

Yet, it doesn't stop there, the roots grow thick,thorns piercing Corypheus's flesh. With a roar he tears his arm loose, only to find new roots growing long and attacking relentlessly, growing around him as if he's a prey to be eaten.

With a groan Corypheus calls demons to him and has them appear. The flower beneath the young woman's feet seems to grow full and then it closes before opening rapidly and releasing streams of ugly green and white magic. The flowerdemoness's screech, so loud it has everyone covering their ears,lulls the demons halfasleep. Then the flower starts to close and open again and the rays of magic starts to shoot towards the demons, hitting them square in their shoulders, arms and chest, even in their faces. Soon enough the demons start to scream and hiss and the bursts burn and burn them and they try to escape but they cannot. The white burst are still being shot out and then they start to form small spikes that cut the demons as they fly cuts and cuts, until the skin is red and black with blood.

It gives the inquisitor and his company enough time to reorganize, but then the orb starts glowing and suddenly the magic around Corypheus explodes. The flowerwoman's roots and thorns and vines, holding him captive, fly away in pieces shrivel and the burn to ashes.

Yet the roots come back and keep attacking. At least until suddenly Corypheus appears before the demoness and his large spindly hands grip her throat. She huffs, a deep breath, desperate.

" A demoness fighting for humans, how unusual." The magister sneers.

" You fight for them, you might as well die for them." He spits.

And then he looks at her, the flowerwoman with petals growing from her eyes and vines growing from her mouth and everyone sees it happening before they see it, a large red wave that goes through the air and then crashes into the woman standing before them.

Her mouth is stretched open in a wordless cry and then she falls still.

For a moment their flowerdemoness, their friend, seems to be still. The air has stopped moving as if she's stuck in time and then a secon ticks by and cracks start to appear all over her body.

The inquisitor and his company hear the sound of as if rockand stone is breaking and the flower seems to dry up. Then it starts to crack and break, as well as the roots coming out of the split in the ground.

And then the demoness's head bows backward, mouth open in a wordless cry of pain and the body full of cracks, like shattered porcelain, explodes into a thousand white and grey petals, followed by the flower above which she floated exploding beneath them, dissapearing into a thousand petals as well.

The air is stark with floating petals and small leaves. They fall everywhere, coating the ground into a large yellow carpet, and falling down from the sky like rain. As they start to fall slower it really starts to rain and suddenly the still inquisitor in Dorian's arms looks forward, humming with energy, teeth clenched and his eyes green; green as the fade he came from; his eyesockets filled with a large green light and then it envelops him, whirling around him and he grips Corypheus with his anker and brings the demon down on his knees.

Everyone sees in this a new victory and so they stand and fight with weapons raised.

But too Cullen it is her, the flowerwoman explosing into a million petals that make him wake up from his dream with a beating heart. And he thinks no no, please no, let it not be reality. But when he wakes, he is in his bed and as he looks outside it is light and he knows morning has come.

Cullen stands up from his bed and wanders out to the battlements.

Florus mortalialis; the deadly flower. A breed of demons. Her breed of demons. And like the flower she is named after, like a flower withering she died.


	2. Chapter 2

past: Meeting

Her presence is disconcerting. She, though normally sized, is clearly not human, and Cullen doesn't understand why the inquisitor would have taken her to skyhold.

He's come back from his mission with his company and their it is. A young woman, with elflike ears, so pale she is almost grey with large leaf-like hair growning from her head. Petals grow from her eyesockets; and vines from her mouth and she doesn't walk but she floats. She has a long darkbrown dressthing made from some kind of leaf or plant on and it adds to her strangeness.

" She, what is she?" The commander sputters indignant. The inquisitor, not fazed at all by the fact there is a floating flowerwoman behind him, doesn't seem to mind her. She is not an elf, for there are flowerpetals growing from her eyes, or rather, where her eyesockets are, flowerpetals grow and well, are those vines spilling from her mouth?

"She isn't human, is she?" Cullen asks, suspicously. Inquisitor Lavellan merely shrugs his shoulders and then walks away, the creature following in his steps.


	3. Chapter 3

chapter 3

present + past

Cullen sighs and looks up from his desk , paper blurring in front of him. Work will not get itself done today and he wonders if he should stop but he doesn't want to otherwise his mind will be free and he will remember. And oh, does he remember.

past:

"How could you? How oculd you do it? " Cullen roars. He glares at the young flowerwoman in the corner,who is cowering, not sure what to do. Her eyeball-less eyes move left and right, the petals in her eyes trembling, shivering with what he presumes is dread.

He never got along with her, finding something strange about her, odd, always hiding near the inquisitor, in the shadows. He can't help but making snide remarks when she's near.- " She cannot speak! She cannot do anythign except be a waste of resources."

He remembers glaring at her in the distance, refusing her presence in the warroom. -" Those who cannot be useful are not allwoed here." He snapped, and shut the door in his face.

Thei 0nquisitor did not speak to him for a week.

He's looking at her, angry, glaring when she drifted to close for his comfort. And then it all came to a head and now he is screaming at her like a madman.

-" What is this ?!" Dorian snaps, pulling Cullen aside." " She.." Cullen points with a harsh movement of his arm towards the creature. " Attacked and possessed a guard, nearly killing him when we were travelling with the inquisitor! My soldiers saw it with their own eyes! The guard in question nearly died!"

True, commander Cullen has never really said anything to her, except offer his opinion. True, in the beginning he wasn't really the most kind to her, preferring to answer with short curt answers or ignore her, but eventually he got used to her presence like everyone else.

But then she nearly killled one of his soldiers, a good man.

"Flower, she killed someone?...Cullen wait!" The inquisitor comes running, heaving a s he stands in front of the commander. " I can explain! It's not what you think! The man was possessed." Cullen blinks stupidly at the inquisitor's words.

" I talked to the soldier. He said he didn't understand the fuss this morning, because she healed him. A demon laid a sickness over him but apparently, she was able to cure him. " Cullen blinks again and then a blush spreads across his cheeks. " UUh."

-" You can go talk to your soldier if you want, he'll tell you the whole story." The inquisitor insists.

" Oh.. right.." The commander is still blushing but then Dorian shrugs goodnaturedly. Perhaps Cullens reaction is understandable. She is after all a strange presence in Skyhold and Cullen cares a lot about his soldiers wellbeing.

By now the flower woman is up and walking slowly and carefully past Cullen.

" I'm sorry." He mumbles. His hand is in his neck, gripping his hair in frustation and then he looks away. Then a soft touch is on his shoulder and he looks up. The flowerwoman has her eyes closed and nods to him.

All is forgiven.


	4. Chapter 4

The chantrysister shouts. In her hands is a book and she brandishes it like a weapon as she points at the flowing woman before her . Some other chantrysisters cower behind the one holding the book and the others watch in disbelief.

\- " It is enough like this." Cassandra whispers. " We will deal with it ourselves. She falls under our judgement."

The crowd dissipates soon enough and then a meeting is called. They all sit together. Iron Bull, Varric, dorian, The inquistor, Leliana, Josephine...

They pour over the book the sister, smug in her victory, has given them.

 **"Florus Mortalialis.** **A demoness also called the " deadly flower" taking the form of a young woman with elven ears. Petals and vines grow out of the mouth and eyes. Light grey skin, varrying from more white to darker grey.** **Live in the ground ground and are known for putting their victims to sleep, then blow them apart or cut them to the bone with a special magic that forms in their base,** **the homus floralis** **, the homeflower, which appears below the demoness when she attacks."** **Known to destroy the environment and men, they are nowadays rare for they have mostly been killed.** **Very dangerous demon on par wih demons of fear and lust.** **-The library of creatures and demons**

"Is it true?" The inquisitor holds the book in front of the young woman, yet the flowerdemoness doesn't move. They wait for her to explain, anything, even just a reaction is enough, yet she does nothing. She stays still as a statue as if she is made of stone. Cullen can feel the palpable dissapointment in the air and when she turn away, no one reacts.

They ignore her the next days at camp. She creeps in the shadow and tries stir their attention, yet they ignore her. She creeps more and more in the shadows and watches those she calls her friends, something suspiciously akin to tears coming from her eyes.


	5. Chapter 5

It does not matter that she's been with them for months, it does not matter, they have considered her a friend. it does not matter that she was accepted into the fold lik one of theirs.

All these moments now seem the frst moment they found her in the wild marches, right after defeating the wolfpack, she's been with them, always nearby. Providing shelter when they could not camp, providing back up when ambushed. They even let her take watch while they slept, share their food.

She helped them defeat corypheus at haven. Pulled the inquisitor m te snow with her roots and branches and kept watch as they grew on one another.

She helped Solas with his fade experiments, listening always .

She heped Iron bull and is company, even stood still and let Josephine use her branches as a makeshift table when she needed help.

She's wormed herself in all of their hearts, but face to this, months and months of lying, it does not does not matter that she crept her flowers along the walls of Halam Shiral. it does

It does not matter she delivered those s ame self made flowers to the Inquisitor and made it look like it were flower of Dorian and by that she laid the foundation for their relationship as lovers.

It does not matter she held up Vivienne when her lover died.

She's lied, she's a demoness, something they fight. And she has given no explanation why she lied. Was it all a ruse ne of crypheus to try and hid a blind spot?

It churns in the Inquisitor's mind, it churns in Cullen's mind.

" I trusted you." he spits and points a finger at her. " Sweet maker, I trusted you, and you are a demoness. A vile thing, disgusting, I trusted you and all this time you tried to infiltrate the inquisition.

Sweet maker, what have you done, why ...fools have we been, what a fool have I been to ever put down my guard. None can trust a demon, especially not you."

She said nothing at his accusations buto nly if he had known what she thought. That she had fallen in love with him and his words wanted to make her cry.

, you are my friends, don't leave me, please...no not you too, I fell in love with you,I fell in love with you, you... I love you, I love you, lion of , no, nononononono...

But her thoughts were her own and she could not, dared not to share them.

Present:

Now these words seem harsh to Cullen, her eyes growing wider as he spat his insults. But he was hurt and afraid he'd made a fatal judgement. What if the Inquisitor had died because of his weakness?

It was perhaps logical to react the way he did, even the inquisitor says so, but Culllen hates how he's been to her.

" Be gone! Be gone, you vile thing, by the Maker, leave us!" The words resound in his head and the commander grips his pen harsh, nearly breaking it in two.

He got what he wanted,didn't he? The next day she was just gone.

And then it comes, the memories of Corypheus's attack. His thoughts focus on her that demoness, coming to their recue.

And then her voiceless cry, pain, hurt and her breaking aparta nd then exploding into a million petals.

The disbelief was palpable inthe ar. The inquisitor whispering no no no , this canot be.

The pet als raining down on them soft like silk but so eery in the rain and water lying around them.

That and Solas's dissapearance, it made a difficult time on the Inquisitor.

And then the guilt, the guilt and grief Cullen finds is in his heaet and dreams. Seh was oyal and so beautiful in her own way and now she is gone .


	6. Chapter 6

" Maker!" Cullen pushes his table away, his harsh strength nearly breaking it into two.

"Commander." Cassandra speaks. He looks up, brow fixed and angry. -" What ?" He snaps.

"Cullen." the Inquisito enters, and his voice is gentle, " You need to rest."

" I don't need rest. " The Inquisitor sighs. - " Cullen, you need to rest and let your guilt go. What happened was not her fault.

-"How would you know Inquisitor?!" he snaps. " You don't know what I said to her. You don't kow how she..she.. Sweet maker..she"

The realizaton that he loved her ,still loves her, hit him hard in the days after her death. His companions don,'t know, they would not understand.

But the Inquisitor is not for nothing the Inquisitor so he furrows his brow and watches Cullen with a determined look on his face. -" What do we need to know?" He challenges. Dorian's separation has taken it's toll on him as well.

\- " What, Cullen? She was a friend to us all, not death has been hard on..."

" I loved her , dammit! Maker knows how and why but I loved her until it felt like I would fal apart. I still love her with my all and my damn heart and soul and now she's gone and ..I can't..I can't.. I realized it to late..And I can't.."

The Inquisitor's shoulders droop. " I'm sorry Commander" Cullen turns to the window and wraps his hand in his hair, sighing deeply. " Please leave. . I mean it. Leave."

Cassandra nods and both leave, closing the door behind them.

" Maker's breath, why? " He huffs and his heart thuds in his chest and Cullen closes his eyes and before he knows it, he feels tears runing donw is cheeks.

Why, maker, _**why**_?" His anguished cry is answered by no one.

 **Themesong of this story: The Dark solas theme or also known as the trespasser ending credit music.**


	7. Chapter 7

" Dream, a dream of hope, a dream of grief. Love blooms even now, if only she knew." Cullen frowns and swats at Cole, who has been following him since this morning.

Finally he throws his hands up and marches away, Mabari on his heels. He does not hear Cole's next words. " But she knows, she does know now, and she has heard you and her heart is blooming and she would tilt the world upside down for you. She is happy and she loves you, how she loves you."

The Inquisitor is slightly better, but today Dorian accompanies him, sitting next to his lover as the Herald of Andraste shuffles papers and points to the map on the table, glowing hand soothed by the carress of Dorian's fngers.

The tension with the Counsil rises and the disbanding of the Inquisition is a real option. Though Cullen loves the inquisition , he wonders if it would perhaps not be best to leave, just to start a new page in life.

"Well then." Inquisitor Trevelyan muses. " Tomorow we will do further search through the eluvians. Round up Bull and Sera " -" But amatus." The inquisitor smiles at Dorian's frown.

"I wil be fine. Besides you're coming with me."

" Be careful Inquisitor." Cullen says, face blank, yet worry gnaws t his inside.

" Got it commander. "

The sky turns red, annoucing the evening in Halamshiral and the music of insects in the gardens lull Cullen to a soft sleep. He is been making this walks in the gardens for the past few evenings beause it eases his slight distress and worry at what is to happen.

In the palace his screams are somehow worse. They are better now that his mabari is there to soothe him, but Cullen hopes that finally he will have a good nightssleep tonight. His dreams are getting better lately and so he goes to bed aerly, the breeze a promise of a good night.

Yet it is mere hours later that Culle wakes. Though he doesn't feel as if he's had a bad dream. He stands, puls on his booths, scratches the mabari behind his ear and then steps outside, white shirt and sleeping pants loose on his body.

He finds himself in the gardens again but tonight something is different. The sounds of insects are soft, gentle and the sky dark but clear and he feels magic permating the air. He is sure of it.

His steps lead him further and further into the gardens until he can see the villages surrounding the palace in the distance over the hills from his point of view.

Cullen breathes in he air, a familiar prikle and then his foot steps on something, a larg vine and root with thorns and leaves.

It is achingly familiar but Cullen cannot think of her now, now that his heart is finally quiet and so he turns the cornerto go.

And there she stands.

Like a nymph spirit she stand with her back to him, her bloody feet standing and not floating for once, on the pathways between her flowers.

Her long leaflike hair bristles and sways softly in the wind and her hands are loose on the side but give a slight twitch .

" It cannot be." He mutters. But it is unmistakingly her.

And then she turns and her face falls upon his and he knows, he just knows.

And with a small tremble vines start wrapping around her and he kows she is ready to dissapear, shame, hurt and guilt and grief, so much grief, in her perfect pale face.

He can feel the telltale rumbling of the ground and he kwos she is leaving, he just knows, his face still frowning a she seems so ashamed, so scared,so he steps forward and grips her arm before she can go.

" Wait." He speaks. Her eyesockets with theflowerlashes growing from it tremble and he knows, she is looking at him.

For someone without eyes she has the most vulnerable and readable expressions he as ever seen.

"Sweet Makr, you are back." And without a word he wrasps hiq other arm naround her and pulls her into his chest and wraps his arms around her head and breathes in her air and suddenly is haert is home.

And then she trembles and starts crying. " . SSSo sorry I ahm.." Her voice is ugly, spitting,; hissing, never having spoken before. And she cries and cries. " SS.;sorry..what I did..SSSoorry. Shame..SSsorry." And she cries and cries.

" Neeeeveerrr wanted not tell you...SsSorry.. but Afraid afraid of hurt and pain.."

"Nononono, sweet maker, no, it's not your fault, don't cry. Don't cry..You should perhaps have told us before but we are not mad anymore. Hurt yes, but not anymore. You are back, MLaker, you are back."

She is still crying, ungly loud sobs and Cullen hugs her and his fingers wipe her tears. " you helped us, love, you helped us so much and we were devastated, sweet maker, i was devastated, but here you are."

"LLooovee. LLooove you..Cu-C-U-llennn.." And her words are foreign but he knows that she returns his feelings and Sweet Maker, she loves him and he sees it, feels it in the very magic that surrounds her.

" Sweet Maker, but how I love you," he breathes and he holds her face and then kisses her, her lips cold but so silky soft and then she relaxes and her body falls into him, her knees nearly bucking.

He looks back from her, eyes full of longing and happiness and though he knows she has no eyes suddenly petals fill her lashes and she blinks and a pair of greyishgreenish irises turn to him.

" you have eyes? Why have you never shown us" He breathes, still holding her face. " After discovery by inquisitionnn..scare to reveal eyes..scared you would know not human but demon by color of eyes.."

Cullen smiles. " They are beautiful.. your eyes, in both ways, withonly your lashes and sockets and like this, when your eyes are really here. " And he sees the love back in them and hek nows.

" Maker, how did you survive? I thought you dead." She blinks, eyes so grey they nearly light up the night.

" ..After truth...breakinnng apartttt. by Corypheusssss.. I wounded...wounded and nearly death..but not..so I come back but scared, so scared but now...lloooovveee..you looove me..Sooo III."

" I never knew your name.." She growls and hisses something. " Floooo..werrrdeath in human tongue."

Cullen frowns. " No Flowerdeath to me.. I will call you Flo." she trembles, closes her eyes and then irises dissapear to accomodate the lashes growing form her empty eyes; but a smile curls around her lips.

" Thank the Maker you came back to us, to me." So Cullen wraps her in his arms again and when she searches his mouth for another kiss, he obliges and kisses her until his breath is gone.

 _ ****Themesong for this story: Dark Solas theme, also known as the trespasser ending credits**_


	8. Chapter 8

A few week laters

" No..." Cullen's voice almost sounds like laughter. The Inquisitor is not even trying, he is laughing anyway

Cullen's mabari looks at him, then moves his tail and bumps his head to Cullen' shoulder.

The Inquisitor is standing next to all of them, uniform cut right to accomodate his missing arm. Dorian stands next to him, proud as can be and smiles lovingly at his lover.

Josephine nods to all of them.

" It is time, my friends." A deep sigh leaves theù ad then they push open the doors, Cullen's hand wrapped around Flo's hand as she floats next to him.

"I declare the inquisition closed and done with! "

It are words that make Cullen both happy and bitter. So many years of work are being ended, a cause he has fought hard for, a just cause, but he understands the need to not drag it on.

The following days is a rush of administative mess to get everything done with and soon enough goodbyes are imminent.

They all stand togeth to watch the sky. Cullen knows he will have a lasting kinship and friendship with all these people no matter what will happen.

He nods to the inquisitor, shakes hands and gets hugged, promises to write letters ("I mean it Cullen." Josephine smiles teary-eyed) and then before he knows it he stands outside the gates of Halamshiral.

On his back are a large sack and his sword bound to it. He does not waer his fur but is simply in his shirt, loose and free. Next to him is the comforting huff of his mabari, ready to go wherever he takes him.

Then he turns and smiles. Softly, gently.

" Are you ready? " His eyes fall on the shape beside him, a young demoness beautiful with the ability to love life immensely.

She squeezes his hand softly and then stands next to him.

He looks ahead, breathes in deeply and puts forward his first steps to a new chapter in life, his mabari running ahead of him and the soft grip of Flo beside him, the swishing of petals on the wind a comforting sound in his ears.

 _ **Epilogue**_

 **After the inquisition disbanded, cullen retired from active service.**

 **He promised that should his friends from the old inquisition ever need him, his blade would be ready.**

 **The young flowerdemoness, though forever beloved by the inquisition, left with Commander Cullen to a new way f life.**

 **He returned to Ferelden, hand in hand with his flowerdemoness, and married her on the road to his new home.**

 **Though very little witnesses, Flo accepted his demand wholeheartedly and spoke forth her love for the commander in every language she knew, the commander returning his love wholeheartedly right back.**

 **After a long-overdue visit to Cullen's siblings, Flo was surprised to see they were overjoyed to meet their new sister-in-law.**

 **Though strange and perhaps unsuual, they loved her all the same and accepted her into the fold without question. Flo accepted them as her family without question right back.**

 **After the disbanding of the inquisition, Cullen and Flo finally retired to private life together.**

 **Unburdenend by the restrictions of his office, he continued doing good works on his own terms, with the help of his beloved Flo, always by his side.**

END

 _**Themesong for this story: Dark Solas theme, also known as the trespasser ending credits_


End file.
